Batsmen hold the key in Peshawar one-dayerPeshawar, March 18With the five-match one-day series interestingly poised at 1-1, India’s fate in the third match here tomorrow against traditional rivals Pakistan will hinge on the performance of their famed batting line-up that failed in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan coach Javed Miandad
(left) puts his arm around Yousuf Youhana as they watch players practice during a training session in
Peshawar
on Thursday.
— Reuters

Medium pacers cannon fodder for batsmenThe fact that the two matches so far have been dominated by the batsmen will not please bowlers from both sides, but it has certainly provided the viewers with a great spectacle.

Rashid stepbrother India’s fanKolkata, March 18While former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif has earned plaudits for dazzling displays for his country, his stepbrother here is set to flourish the
Tricolour when he sets foot on Pakistan soil to watch the current cricket clashes.

Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi bowls during a training session in Peshawar on Thursday, ahead of
the third ODI between India and Pakistan on Friday.
— Reuters

Notes from Pakistan
A lot of friendship between two teams: YouhanaPeshawar, March 18Notwithstanding the high-voltage action on and off the field, Pakistan vice-captain Yousuf Youhana said on Thursday the one-day cricket series was being played in “true spirit” of friendship.

Pakistani
captain Inzamam-ul-Haq bats during a training session in Peshawar on Thursday.

Tickets for Lahore
tie sold outLAHORE: Tickets for the final two one-day games between Pakistan
and India at Lahore on March 21 and 24 have been picked up in no time, according
to the Pakistan Cricket Board.

SA in control on opening day
Auckland, March 18South Africa dominated the opening day’s play in the second test against New Zealand today, moving on to 231 for two wickets at the close after building on a strong opening partnership.
After being asked to bat by New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, his counterpart Graeme Smith (88) and Herschelle Gibbs (80) put on 177 for the first wicket before both were dismissed either side of the tea interval.“That toss could have been one I would have liked to have lost,” Fleming said.

South African skipper Graeme Smith hits a shot on the opening day of the
second Test against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland, on
Thursday. — AP/PTI photo

Kandy, Sri Lanka, March 18Damien Martyn scored an unbeaten 104 as Australia reached 320 for five in their second innings before torrential rain washed out the third afternoon of the second test against Sri Lanka today.
Australia, resuming on 211 for two after conceding a 91-run first-innings deficit, extended their overall lead to 229 before play ended 46 overs early.Australia's Damien Martyn celebrates
after reaching his century on the third day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in
Kandy
on Thursday. — Reuters photo

TN move into finalChennai, March 18Tamil Nadu stormed into the finals by virtue of their 139-run first innings lead over Railways as the five-day Ranji semi-final match ended in a draw at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here today and will meet champions Mumbai in what will be a repeat of last year’s title clash.

Vasco triumphMargao, March 18Exhibiting brilliant ball control and shooting power Vasco Sports Club registered an emphatic 3-1 win over former champions Salgaocar Sports Club in their crucial 16th round match in the National Football League championship at Nehru stadium Fatorda here today.

Dempo eke out 1-0 victoryChennai, March 18Despite being reduced to 10 players, Dempo, Goa, eked out a fighting solitary goal win over local outfit Indian Bank in the National Football League here this evening.

Peshawar, March 18
With the five-match one-day series interestingly poised at 1-1, India’s fate in the third match here tomorrow against traditional rivals Pakistan will hinge on the performance of their famed batting line-up that failed in Rawalpindi.

Heavy security cordon has already been put in place in and around the Arbab Niaz Stadium, where visiting teams earlier had reservation in playing because of the city’s proximity to Afghanistan.

Both the captains — Saurav Ganguly and Inzamam-ul-Haq — have realised that the team batting have the job of setting up an imposing total which would be beyond the reach of the team batting second.

In-form Ashish Nehra’s injury-enforced absence would further deplete a struggling Indian bowling attack which may find it hard to contain the Pakistanis on yet another beautiful batting track. Though India would announce the final XI tomorrow, Irfan Pathan is likely to replace him.

Delhi seamer Amit Bhandari, who has joined the team in place of Nehra, is unlikely to be fielded straightaway.

The path-breaking series has turned out to be a nightmare for the bowlers who have got very little assistance from the placid pitches in Karachi and Rawalpindi and the same fate awaits them in the remaining three matches.

But even a total of 349 has not looked safe on such batting friendly tracks which means that the batsmen will have the onus to carry their team to safety.

Ganguly has predicted a “close series” and believes the batsmen, more than the bowlers, would have a much bigger role in the series considering the nature of tracks.

“The way this one-day series is going it will be very difficult for any side to contain the opposition between 275 and 300. Whichever side is bowling first or second should make sure that they don’t give more than 280 runs. Once the score gets to 330 it is very difficult for the side batting second,” Ganguly said.

“Unless something drastic happens this is going to be a series of big scores”, he said referring to the four 300-plus scores made in the first two one-dayers of the five-match series.

The form of pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who has just
recovered from a groin injury, has been a cause of concern as he conceded a lot of runs in the first two matches and will have to pull up his socks in the remaining three matches.

The Indians were likely to retain newcomer Ramesh Powar in the team as apart from being an off-spinner he has the credentials of a handy batsman who could contribute some crucial runs down the order as he did in the last match.

Clearly, the Indian bowlers have their tasks cut out as they have to curb the run flow though it is going to be difficult as even the line and length balls have been despatched to the boundary.

The Pakistani bowlers have also given away a lot of runs. They will be relying on the tearaway fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar to do as much damage as possible with sheer speed.
— PTI

The fact that the two matches so far have been dominated by the batsmen will not please bowlers from both sides, but it has certainly provided the viewers with a great spectacle. The pitches are so flat that medium-pace bowlers are cannon fodder for the batsmen.

Even Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, the fast and third fastest bowler in the world, respectively, have found the going tough. As for the Indian pacers, they don’t have any assistance from the pitch or through the air, and with the exception of Ashish Nehra who seemed to have gained confidence after his last over in Karachi, they all looked terribly pedestrian at Rawalpindi. This makes the injury to Nehra even more disappointing for the Indians, and they are making matters worse by getting another medium-pacer, Amit Bhandari, in his place. Slower bowlers, be it the competitive Ramesh Powar or the part-timers, are not being as badly mauled as the Indian medium pacers, so a spinner should have been brought in from India.

The game at Rawalpindi proved to the world the advantage of batting first, and Inzamam would know this better than anybody else. However, just as Pakistan gained some mental strength by running the Indians close at Karachi, the Indians, too, will gain some confidence and consolation after running the Pakistanis close at Pindi. So far, I would say that the Indians are batting better than the Pakistanis because they are scoring all their runs against a far superior attack, the Pakistanis on the other hand are capitalizing on the weakness of the Indian bowlers. Going into the Peshawar game, the bowlers will know that there is no joy in the wicket for them. To make matters worse, Pakistan is far hotter this year, than it normally is around this time. Once again the toss becomes crucial, and the team batting first will have a great advantage. It is a crucial game since neither side will want to go to Lahore having to win two straight games. This means that both sides should get their gameplan spot on.

Ganguly will be well-advised to rely more on his slow bowlers. I know it is tough for him to have to cope without the services of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, but Powar looks promising and his part-time bowlers like Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have not been doing badly. Perhaps it would have helped him if the selectors had sent in another spinner, but he must learn to marshal the resources he has, judiciously.

Enough has been said about the error Inzamam made at the toss in Karachi. He must concentrate on getting some minor details right so that he can get the most out of his batting line-up. I could not for the life of me understand why he demoted Abdul Razzaq in the last game. The all-rounder has been in great form over the last couple of months, and even though he came in too late, he was the one who propelled the innings to 329. The other change I would like to see is Inzamam coming in at one-down in the one-dayers. I have been trying to convince him to do this since the World Cup, but he does not seem to understand his own importance in this batting line-up. I would also be glad to see Taufeeq Umer in the eleven. I know that the batting has been doing too well to disrupt anything, but Taufeeq is the best young batsman we have, and he must be accommodated.

On the positive side, I am happy with the way the Pakistan captain has been handling his fast bowlers. He is not telling them to cut down on speed in their pursuit of discipline, and this means he recognizes the need of both Shoaib and Sami to be attacking at all times, even if this means that they bowl the odd over badly.
— Gameplan

Islamabad, March 18
Indian captain Saurav Ganguly is being charged with running a “whispering campaign” aimed at unsettling Pakistan match-winning speedster Shoaib Akhtar by attempting to question his action.

A Pakistan team official, according to media reports, said they had come to know that efforts were being made by the Indian team think-tank, including Ganguly, to put pressure on Shoaib by launching a “whispering” campaign and manipulating the media to raise an issue over his bowling action.

“We know that the Indians have been behind a whispering campaign about Shoaib’s action being under scrutiny in this series by the umpires and match referee through their media corps,” the official was quoted as saying in local daily ‘The News’.

“We realise it is all a ploy to start a controversy in the Press about Shoaib’s bowling action and try to put him under pressure and disturb him in this series as he is a potential match-winner. But he is ready for such a situation,” he said.

The official’s remarks come after Ganguly evaded a direct reply on the legality of Shoaib’s action in a way that hinted otherwise at a Press conference after the Rawalpindi one-dayer which India lost by 12 runs.

The newspaper also quoted a Pakistan Cricket Board official as saying it was wrong to suggest that Shoaib’s name was on the International Cricket Council list of bowlers with suspect action.

“I don’t think there is any such list nor have the match referee or umpires been given instructions to watch Shoaib’s action,” he said.

“There is nothing wrong with Shoaib’s bowling action and he has been cleared by the ICC just like Muttiah Muralitharan, Harbhajan Singh or others,” he said.
— PTI

Kolkata, March 18
While former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif has earned plaudits for dazzling displays for his country, his stepbrother here is set to flourish the
Tricolour when he sets foot on Pakistan soil to watch the current cricket clashes.

But there is a hitch. Mr Shahid is yet to receive a ticket for any of the matches as promised by brother Rashid.

“Rashid told me that he was sending the tickets. But so far, they have not reached me. Once I receive them, I will apply for a Pakistani visa,” Mr Shahid, who works in the central despatch section of a prominent English daily here, says.

On whether he would support India or Pakistan, as his stepbrother plays for the neighbouring country, pat comes the reply: ‘’Of course, it’ll be India. It is my country. I can’t support any country other than India.’’

Mr Shahid, who arrived in the metropolis in the 1970s from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh, says that the series had given him a golden opportunity to fulfil his long-standing dream of visiting his father Abdul Latif and stepmother in Pakistan.

The senior Latif had migrated to Pakistan during the Partition along with his second wife, but Shahid chose to stay on here along with his grandfather.

Abdul’s first wife, who gave birth to Shahid, died when he was only one year old.

“I’ve always considered my stepmother as my mom. Similarly, I vibe very well with stepbrother Rashid,’’ says the man.

Shahid recalls that he had called on Rashid at a city hotel as also the Eden Gardens when the controversial stumper visited India along with the Pakistan team in 1999.
— PTI

Peshawar, March 18
Notwithstanding the high-voltage action on and off the field, Pakistan vice-captain Yousuf Youhana said on Thursday the one-day cricket series was being played in “true spirit” of friendship.

“There is a lot of friendship between the two teams. It is being played in the true spirit and we have no problems. There is of course some pressure on both the teams,” Youhana told reporters ahead of the third one-day international here tomorrow.

The swashbuckling batsman’s comments come in the backdrop of recent controversies involving Indian captain’s insinuating comments on Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling action and the accusation of the Pakistani camp that the Indians were indulging in
mindgames.

* Indian cricketers are not known to be bibliophiles. So when some of them visited the bookshop of Marriott Hotel, where they were staying, it was not to browse the rich collection on its shelves, but to buy prepaid telephone cards!

Almost all Indian cricketers have bought a local mobile connection here, though some of them have also brought their mobile phones registered in India.

If they have to make calls to their homes, they prefer to call from their Pakistani numbers, which they say is cheaper than making calls from public call booths or from the hotel.

“You should also buy a prepaid cash card and make calls back home from your Pakistani mobile — you will realise it is cheaper than calling from the pubic booths,” suggested a player.

Save for Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, who almost became a doctor before taking to cricket, and, to an extent, Murali Kartik, no other Indian cricketer is known to be particularly fond of reading.

*
Cricket fans in Islamabad who do not have a camera but want to be photographed with Sachin Tendulkar or any other cricketer simply contact Javaid Chaudhary at the Marriott Hotel and he takes care of the rest.

Javaid’s only duty seemed to be to look for fans ready to pay a price to get themselves snapped with the Indian or Pakistani cricketers in the hotel foyer.

There were large numbers of fans who besieged the hotel, where the two teams stayed for the second one-day international played at nearby Rawalpindi Tuesday, for autographs — and, if possible, photographs — of their favourite players.

Asked how much he charged for a photograph, Javaid refused to divulge the price. He, perhaps, guessed that the query was coming from a reporter and not a fan who wanted to have himself clicked while standing next to Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid.

*
Rahul Dravid is not just one of the most consistent batsmen in today’s cricket but is also one of the fittest players and a frequent flier.

Because of his consistency and fitness — he sweats the most in the Indian team — Dravid has hardly missed any Test or one-day international for India. And that is the reason why he is the most travelled player in the Indian team.

But since the 2003-04 season is still in progress it cannot be determined if he has logged the maximum air miles of all the world’s cricketers, though he had held the record in the past.

And he must be one of the front-runners — if not the leader already — in the current race since he has played in each and every series this season.

According to Wisden, the famous English cricket publication, Dravid was the world’s most travelled cricketer in 1989-99 when he logged 65,146 air miles after travelling to Toronto, Sharjah, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Zimbabwe.
— Agencies

LAHORE: Tickets for the final two one-day games
between Pakistan and India at Lahore on March 21 and 24 have been
picked up in no time, according to the Pakistan Cricket Board. Tickets for the elite seating area of the stadium, Imran Khan and Fazal Mahmood enclosures, which cost Rs 1,500 each were earlier sold out on line, and the remaining were put on sale at the exclusive booths of Gadaffi Stadium. The tickets for other enclosures, including general enclosure as well, were also on sale at some booths of the stadium and few designated branches of the Bank Alfalah throuhgout the city. A PCB official, told the local media here that tickets had already been sold out to different sponsors.
— UNI

Visa seekers

Amritsar: A number of visa seekers returned disappointed on the second day today as the Pakistan High Commission postponed the special visa camp here to March 19. Many cricket fans, who did not come to know of the changed schedule, thronged the irrigation rest house. The cricket fans desiring to see contest between India and Pakistan at Lahore came mainly at the camp in the morning hours.
— OSR

Auckland, March 18
South Africa dominated the opening day’s play in the second test against New Zealand today, moving on to 231 for two wickets at the close after building on a strong opening partnership.

After being asked to bat by New Zealand skipper Stephen Fleming, his counterpart Graeme Smith (88) and Herschelle Gibbs (80) put on 177 for the first wicket before both were dismissed either side of the tea interval.

“That toss could have been one I would have liked to have lost,” Fleming said.

“There’s been a couple of times this summer that pitches have fooled a lot of people, but today we honestly thought we’d get a window of opportunity by bowling first.

Kandy, Sri Lanka, March 18
Damien Martyn scored an unbeaten 104 as Australia reached 320 for five in their second innings before torrential rain washed out the third afternoon of the second test against Sri Lanka today.

Australia, resuming on 211 for two after conceding a 91-run first-innings deficit, extended their overall lead to 229 before play ended 46 overs early.

Martyn, dropped on 65, batted defensively for a marathon seventh Test hundred that spanned 397 minutes and 274 balls and included 14 boundaries.

Chennai, March 18
Tamil Nadu stormed into the finals by virtue of their 139-run first innings lead over Railways as the five-day Ranji semi-final match ended in a draw at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here today and will meet champions Mumbai in what will be a repeat of last year’s title clash.

Railways, chasing an impossible target of 446 in 37 overs, including 15 mandatory overs, could manage just 117 for five in 26 overs, when both the sides agreed to call off the match after eighth mandatory over.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu, resuming at 128 for two, were all out for 306, 59 minutes after lunch.

At one stage, Tamil Nadu appeared as though they would pull off an outright win with Railways losing four quick wickets for just 15 runs on the board after 7.4 overs. Tamil Nadu’s medium pacers C Ganapathy (3-20) and D TamilKumaran (1-11) did the damage. Railways had lost the wickets of S Kanolkar for seven, captain Sanjay Bangar, the other opener, and Yere Goud, without opening their accounts and J P Yadav for five.— PTI

Haryana faced a daunting task after having conceded 356-run first innings lead. They were all out in the 63th minute after lunch today for 364, deriving some consolation to make the hosts bat for the second time. Maharashtra’s Dhiraj Jadhav slammed a sizzling boundry to mid-wicket fence to assure his team place in the finals.
— UNI

Margao, March 18
Exhibiting brilliant ball control and shooting power Vasco Sports Club registered an emphatic 3-1 win over former champions Salgaocar Sports Club in their crucial 16th round match in the National Football League championship at Nehru stadium Fatorda here today.

Vasco who needed a win bettered their performance today and toyed with the rivals right from the start and were leading by 3-0 at the breather. The goals came through Marcos Pereira in the 19th minute, Agnelo Colaco in the 43rd minute and Kamal Thapa in the injury time of the first half. Climax Lawrence scored a consolation goal for Salgaocar in the 46th minute.
— UNI

Chennai, March 18
Despite being reduced to 10 players, Dempo, Goa, eked out a fighting solitary goal win over local outfit Indian Bank in the National Football League here this evening.

In the 16th round match, which was pacy in the first session, Dempo got the all-important goal in the first minute of the second half through medio Clifford Miranda, who made most of a cross from Liberian striker Sunday Seah from the right flank.

With this win, Dempo caught up with the top two teams in the league — East Bengal and Churchill Brothers — with a total of 31 points.
— UNI